Attitudes to Income Equality: The ‘Socialist Legacy’ Revisited

It is routinely assumed that residents of post-socialist countries have a preference for greater income equality, other things being equal, owing to the legacy of socialism. This proposition is examined in the context of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (FSU) using three waves of the World Values Survey. Contrary to expectations, there is little evidence of a ‘socialist legacy’ en bloc. Countries in the FSU as a group display significantly lower preference for moving towards greater income equality than Eastern Europe. Moreover, this preference for greater income inequality appears to have persisted at least since the mid-1990s. Comparative Economic Studies (2009) 51, 344–366. doi:10.1057/ces.2009.4; published online 21 May 2009